New Delhi: September 14 is celebrated as Hindi Diwas to mark the importance of Hindi language. It was back in 1949, that the constituent assembly decided to acknowledge Hindi as the official language and in 1950, the Constitution of India adopted Hindi in Devanagri Script as the official language of the union.

Unless Parliament decided otherwise, the use of English for official purposes was to cease even 15 years after the constitution came into effect, i.e., on 26 January 1965. The prospect of the changeover, however, led to much alarm in the non Hindi-speaking areas of India, especially Dravidian-speaking states whose languages were not related to Hindi at all. As a result, Parliament enacted the Official Languages Act, 1963, which provided for the continued use of English for official purposes along with Hindi, even after 1965.

Hindi is one the oldest languages and derives much of its academic vocabulary from the Sanskrit language. While adopting Hindi as the official language, it was perceived that Hindi would become the sole working language of the central government by 1965, and state government will function in their own choice. Contrary to beliefs, Hindi could not sustain as the sole working language and was always used along with English.

“Hindi is a language of harmony and understanding” said Ban Ki Moon during the 8th World Hindi Conference on Hindi at United Nation headquarters in New York and surprised many by inaugurating the ceremony with “Namaste! Kya Haal Chaal hai?